Not only do I have to worry about unfamilair people in an unfamilliar place, but I now have the luxury of worrying about gators, snakes, and panthers. Yeah, that's right, freaking panthers. So about a month ago I came to the realization that I needed a gun. Ok, well not need a gun, but definitely want one to feel...more secure. I awoke three Saturdays ago telling my husband that I wanted to go to the gun shop to look for a pistol. That was the equivalent of him saying to me; "Let's go to Sephora to go make-up shopping". Within the hour we were at our local gun shop to check out what pistols they had that would be suitable for me.
Being a California girl, I have never been familiar with guns. California being such a liberal state and with so many hoops you have to go through to get a gun 'legally', I did not grow up with a gun in my household, so I was always deathly afraid of them. Being that my husband is in the military and because of his job, he is very much familiar with weapons. I can honestly say I have the best teacher in the world on how to handle a weapon, and still it doesn't mean they don't scare the shit out of me. So before visiting the gun shop, Jermaine was sure I would do well with a .22 pistol. Determined to buy a .22 that day, I walked in not knowing what the hell I was doing. As soon as I walked in the store clerks started bombarding me with all kinds of different pistols, handing them to me, expecting me to do..god knows what but, I just felt so out of place. Not knowing what the hell was expected of me and how to react with all these pistols being pushed in my direction. Finally, I turned to Jermaine and told him that I needed to shoot these first. Without hesitation, he agreed and we were on our way to their sister store which has an outdoor range in a nearby town.
At some point while at the gun shop we came on the topic of shooting a .380 over a .22. What and how that happened, I don't know, it is still al a blur to me, but Jermaine coincidently agreed and I was roped into shooting a .380 over the .22 I was prepared to shoot when we got to the range.
[*A little gun lesson, a .22 caliber bullet is smaller than a .380 caliber bullet and subsequently has a bigger "kick" aka recoil when you shoot the gun, which can make shooting a gun with a larger bullet pretty scary.] So I shot two different .380's. A Walther .380 (which I HATED btw, I couldn't pull back the slide to chamber the round which really pissed me off and needed Jermaine to do for me.)
Once I was able to actually chamber the round the recoil or 'kick' was...well, more than I expected.
The second .380 I shot was a Bersa Thunder, which I LOVED.
I don't know what it was but I felt 'at home' with it. This is the gun I decided to buy after shooting it a few more times.
[This was apparently the wrong stance, I was leaning away and afraid of the recoil]
[Readjusted better stance]
All in all I am happy with my decision. Obviously I know that guns are not for everyone, but I personally feel like guns are the right choice for me, especially with my husband being away as frequently as he is. For my piece of mind I feel more secure as a gun owner to protect my household against whatever threats might be out there. I am also signed up for a Conceal and Carry class which will further teach me about gun and gun safety along with the laws and regulations about guns in Florida and the ability to carry my gun on my person or concealed in my car (aka in the glove compartment) if I see fit.














